Again, Nigerian representatives at the continent’s elite championship, the CAF Champions League are on a familiar terrain. Early exit. This should be of great concern to the organisers of the elite division, the Nigerian Premier League. The reasons for this are not far to seek.
It was the tortoise who, aware that the mother might not survive from an ailment, embarked on a long distance journey. Knowing that he was too broke to give the woman a befitting burial, he warned his siblings and kinsmen that no one should call his attention unless an abnormality occurred. Smart guy, death has never been an abnormal occurrence.
Strikingly, the leadership of the Nigerian football house must have left a similar message for Nigeria’s flag-bearers at this year’s African clubs Champions League competition before jetting out to Europe for Eagles friendlies. The elimination of our champions at the early stage in the continental soccer summit for over a decade now is as sure as death. Nobody should draw their attention because it’s not an abnormality. It’s the usual.
Another ritual in the name of a new season is on. Very soon a new set of “champions” and Nigeria’s representatives will emerge anyhow. Don’t bother how they would be helped to emerge. It’s through our own version of the elite football league.
Sadly, the embarrassing situation goes on with no conscious efforts to identify why we have become a giant in failure. But should we really look for the reasons? We simply don’t have a strong local football league. Undoubtedly, our football administrators would not take this in good faith. They would rather beat their chest for a job well done. But the yardsticks are there to prove them wrong. Our champions, Plateau United and MFM had made early exits to no one’s surprise.
Just few weeks to the commencement of the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia, it is quite clear that with the exception of goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa, no other home based player would be in the team to Russia. This is in contrast with our first three World Cup Finals outing in USA ’94, France ’98 and Japan/Korea 2002, where the bulk of our players were stars who made their mark in the local scene before moving to overseas. That was why the Super Eagles were both respected and dreaded both in Africa and at the global stage. Nigeria was ranked 5th in the world on our way to US’94. But today, how many of the players going to Russia made an impression here before moving out of our shores? This demonstrates the fact that our league is still in the doldrums. It has yet to improve to the standard that the founding fathers of professional league worked so hard to entrench when professional league kicked off in Nigeria in 1990.
Many factors can be deduced why our league is not flying high like those in Northern and Southern Africa or even some West African countries like Ivory Coast. First, virtually all the leading Premier League teams in Nigeria are government owned. To that effect, the clubs are only used for political strategies rather than football development. In other words, the Nigerian Premier League teams serve as a propaganda arm of state governments. When such is the case, of course, growth and development are drastically impaired and what you get is what late Afrobeat king, Fela would have labeled “arrangee” champions. Compromised officiating remains the bane. Is it not a shame that a country that has lifted the African Cup of Nations three times is celebrating finishing second for the first time at the last CHAN? This is because the players that represented the national teams in the competition are drawn from the local football local leagues. Ours does not measure up. The stadiums are nothing to write home about, as they are used for political rallies, religious programmes, social events and made pirates unplayable. No wonder our teams are punished when exposed to better pitches. This is the basic reason our players no longer get top European clubs and it negatively affects the quality of our football at the global stage.
The welfare of home-based players is nothing to write home about. How much is the average pay of a Nigerian home based player? How many clubs are up-to-date with players’ salaries? There are no functional insurance policies or adequate medical facilities for even minor injuries. The consequence is the early termination of the careers of our promising talents.
Significantly, emolument is where the entire matter starts and ends. The Nigerian player earns a peanut compared to what his counterparts in North Africa, South Africa and West African countries take home. Even at that, the salary does not come regularly.
Moves by the LMC to tackle this monster have not yielded the desired result. Stating it on paper is good, but putting modalities on ground for effective implementation on how to sanction clubs that do not comply is still a mirage. Despite all the concerns, Nigerians of good conscience have raised alarm over what they described as “pay and win” league, both the NFF and LMC have continued to treat such observation with a kid’s glove. Rather, they boast of the achievements our national team records with our foreign-based players, who really are not products of our local football.
Indeed, the ominous signs that the Nigerian league is on a life support and may soon give up the ghost was recently registered, when Osas Okoro, a player that has played in some of the biggest teams in Nigeria and was a member of the last CHAN team, travelled to no other country, but Zambia for a “greener pasture” to join a team identified as Buildcom FC of Ndola. How low can we get?
However, this shouldn’t be a time for blame game or self-aggrandizement by our football administrators. The sports minister, if he is still on his desk, must compel our football managers to immediately declare a state of emergency in our local league to halt further humiliation of Nigeria in the hands of tiny African countries.
Till next week, keep attacking.